Track baseplate for Lionel giraffe and brakeman cars

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

I have both cars, Lionel 3376 Giraffe and 3424 Brakeman. Both Postwar. Both use telltales, and my question is do both use the same baseplate for the track? I have the baseplates for the giraffe cars and can I simply add the brakeman actuator blades (track clip 3424-85 for 027) to the giraffe baseplate and have the one telltale assembly actuate either car?

Thanks in advance.

2

Iā€™ll have to double checkā€¦ I have the 3424 telltale baseplates but not the 3376 ones. But I believe yes, you should be able to install blades on them no problem.

The telltales themselves are of course also completely interchangable, just molded in different colors.

-Ellie

3

Thanks Ellie,

Ill buy a couple blades and see if they fit. Do you need 2 blades for each telltale? I think so, so it works in both directions since I only see one shoe on the brakeman car.

4

Each ā€œbladeā€ part is a double-blade, so you only need one per telltale. That said, the 3424 did come with 4 blade pieces. Due to the difference in the height of O and O-27 track, different sized blades are required. So Lionel furnished the 3424 with a set of 2 O-27 and 2 O sized trip blades, you would install the relevant blade for whichever track type you used. When using Super O track, the O-27 blades are the correct size, but you need a section of track such as the one Lionel sold as their No. 38, with a stretch of no plastic ties, to give room for the telltale bracket to be clipped to the track.

-Ellie

5

Ok, thanks, got it.

I went searching on eBay for both cars and found sold sets that were complete with the brown parts envelope in pictures.

The P/N of the baseplate is the same, confirming what you said. And the picture of the blade shows its like a U channel with blades on both sides.

Thanks again Ellie.

Bob

1 Like